Arts & Entertainment

Best Reporter Orange County 2013 - Scott M. Reid

While we blast TheOrange County Register at every opportunity (because they're so weak sauce), the sole department we continually praise is its sports team, which produces one of the best sections in the country. From its beat reporters to columnists (especially with the recent addition of longtime Los Angeles Times crank T.J. Simers) to editors, it's a Murderer's Row of scribes, yet none is better than Olympics and investigative reporter Scott M. Reid. In just the past two years, Reid's reporting has brought down lifetime bans on gymnastics and swimming coaches for their perverted ways and looked into how the fearsome Zetas drug cartel infiltrated the Los Alamitos Race Course, all while covering the Olympics, gymnastics, swimming, even the stray football story with crisp, engaging writing. Our only beef with Reid isn't his fault—most people can't read his stuff or that of his colleagues because of the damn Register paywall—but his writings are such a must-read that we don't mind stealing our neighbor's sports section, just like how we used to do in junior high, to read his prose whenever it appears.